Английский язык для студентов радиотехнических специальностей вузов (стр. 26 )

2. Characteristic of the first generation – the programmed robots – is that their control system acts according to a rigid oft-repeated programme1 all the time. But the programmed robot is easily retuned to various action programmes.

3. All the industrial robots in stamping, mechanical processing, forge and foundry work, and in other auxiliary "manual" operations as well as in loading and unloading that have been widely introduced belong to this generation. They will continue to be the main type of robot. But adaptive robots, or robots of the second generation, are being developed along with them. Where they differ is that they possess the most elementary senses in their manipulators – tactile (sense and touch), power (reaction to the magnitude of the work effort),2 locating,3 (reaction to the distance to the object and the speed of approaching it), and light (reaction to the object located within a beam of light), and subsequently micro process the information.

4. The third generation – intellectual robots – possess far richer means for sensing (including sight), for appraising the situation, and for processing information with a view to adopting a decision and carrying it out using drives and organizing the purposeful movement of the manipulator. This enables us to say that here the robot possesses a mo dicum4 of "artificial intellect".

5. However, in these complex problems, man is not yet completely excluded. Artificial intellect will be used when it is more effective than human intellect, i. e. in the cases when the human organism itself will not be able to react quickly to a large bulk of information5 that an artificial intellect can process quickly. But for a long time to come, these systems will have an operator, who will solve problems in complicated situations, using human experience.

6. All these objectives figure in the state programme for the development of robot technology in future, and will be carried out to benefit the various industries.

Notes

1. a rigid oft-repeated programme – фиксированная часто повторяющаяся программа

2. the magnitude of the work-effort – величина (степень) рабочего усилия

3. locating – местоположение

4. modicum – очень малое количество (чуточка)

5. a large bulk of information – большой объем информации

III. Say what you have learned about the first generation of robots.

IV. Find the information about the second generation of manipulators and say it to your group-mate.

V.  Which paragraph contains the information about the third generation of robots?

VI. Explain why artificial intellect can't be used now instead of human one and say when it will be used.

VII. Summarize the ideas developed in texts А, В and С. Use this information to make a report on the theme "Robots Today and Tomorrow". The following plan will help you:

1.  Historical background of robots.

2.  Three generations of robots.

3.  Different types of industrial robots.

4. The role of robots in industrial production.

UNIT THIRTEEN

• Grammar: Complex Sentence (§ 17)..

Functions of one (§23).

• Word-formation; adj + n = n

n + adj = adj.

• Individual Work: Lab Work "Complex Sentence".

LESSON ONE

Pre-text Exercises

I. Practise the reading of the following words:

negotiation [nIˏgquSI'eISn], persuasion [pq'sweIZn], ingredient [In'gri:diqnt], source [sO:s], receiver [rI'si:vq], encode [In'kqud], originate [q'riGIneIt], misinterpretation [ˏmIsIntWpri'teISn], verbal ['vq:bl].

II. Check up if you can read these words correctly and say what words in the Russian language help you to guess their meaning:

communication, information, process, symbol, discipline, instruction, model, telephone, engineer, nature, factor, position.

III. State to what parts of speech the words in black type belong:

1. Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals. 2. The basic ingredients of a communications model include a source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver, feedback and noise. 3. Telephone, radio and television deliver a continuous stream of information. 4. The electric telegraph was the beginning of the whole vast telecommunications industry. 5. The man who put most effort into developing the telegraph was a successful American painter and sculptor Samuel Morse. 6. Modern communication owes its very existence to the evolution in digital electronics. 7. A great Russian scientist A. S.Popov was the first who produced an apparatus which became the world's greatest means of communication. 8. It was the energy and persistence of A. G.Bell which made the telephone a practical instrument. 9. Thomas Alva Edison is known as one of the greatest inventors of his time. 10. Present-day telephones, television sets, satellites and microwave transmitters all rest upon a foundation of computers.

IV. Find Russian equivalents given below to the English compound words:

short-circuit, loud-speaker, intervision, hardware, software, hyper-graph, microreader, microcopy, hi-fi (high fidelity), lo-fi (low fidelity), high-light, highway, shorthand;

микроинструкция, короткое замыкание, стенография, программное (математическое) обеспечение, аппаратура, гиперграф, громкоговоритель, уменьшенная копия, аппарат для чтения микрофильмов, аппарат высокого класса, аппарат низкого класса, интервидение, световой эффект, автомагистраль.

V. Form nouns adding the suffix -er (-or) to the given verbs, translate them:

Example: to record — записывать

recorder — звукозаписывающий аппарат

to encode, to decode, to receive, to interpret, to process, to transmit, to read, to produce, to discover, to inform, to deliver, to design, to elect, to instruct, to supervise.

VI. Translate the following compound adjectives:

inch-thick, atom-free, heat-proof, trouble-free, iron-strong, duty-free, note-worthy, hammer-proof, dust-free, gas-blue, snow-white, century-old, iron-grey, pencil-thin.

VII. Check up if you remember the meaning of the following verbs. Consult a dictionary if necessary:

to deliver, to decode, to interpret, to select, to transmit, to differentiate, to permit, to join, to complete, to invent, to refer to, to appreciate, to convey.

VIII. Define the functions of the word one in the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.

1. A given problem can have more than one algorithm for its solution. 2. The new devices have a number of advantages over the old ones. 3. A "negative ion" is one which has gained (получил) an electron. 4. A "positive ion" is one which lost an electron. 5. Circuits that can perform this logical operation and similar ones have been built and tested. 6. At present robot technology has two major branches, one technological and the other scientific. 7. Higher speeds are one of the basic features of modern technical progress. 8. One must always be careful when operating this machine. 9. Our old laboratory equipment was much worse than the new one. 10. The idea of automation is one of the most important ideas for modern industry.

IX. Translate the sentences into Russian paying attention to the meaning of the word one:

1. The theory of the basic devices in radio engineering – radio transmitting and radio receiving ones — was developed by the scientists. 2. To understand what laser is one has to understand how light is generated. 3. The input unit to be described here is a new one. 4. One can make matter vibrate in different ways. 5. In future power stations will use the principle of direct conversion of solar energy into electric one. 6. Due to radioactive elements one can measure the thickness of various materials. 8. He knew that no one could help him. 9. The history of the exploration of the Urals has been a long one. 10. I know only one solution of this problem.

X. Find in text A sentences with the word one and translate them into Russian.

XI. Find the sentences with additional clauses among the ones given below. Translate these sentences into Russian:

1. It seems probable that language was fully developed about 25,000 years ago. 2. Precise recording instruments show that no two native speakers of a language pronounce any word or sound of that language exactly the same. 3. We often hear that the increasing flood of information will be one of the problems of the 21-st century. 4. Some people believe that learning a foreign language is just a matter of memorizing words. 5. When Galileo invented the telescope he realized that an arrangement of lenses could also be used to magnify objects. 6. At the beginning of the 20-th century, astronomers believed that Mars was

quite similar to our world. 7. Scientific study of society shows that human history develops from stage to stage according to definite laws.

8.  Maxwell predicted that waves longer than those of light could exist.

9.  The laboratory is the place where experiments as well as scientific research may be carried out. 10. If you want to get the atomic weight of an element, you must add together the protons and neutrons. 11. The atomic weight of an element tells us how many times it is heavier than hydrogen.

XII. Translate the sentences paying attention to the subordinating
conjunctions introducing attributive clauses:

1. Electronics is that branch of science and technology which studies the conduction of electricity through gases or in vacuum. 2. There are about thirty radio stations in the world that put on Esperanto programmes. 4, Chemistry is the science that deals with the structure of matter and its changes. 5. The degree to which computers will take over human functions may frighten some people and astonish others. 6. Omar Khayam wrote a book on algebra which was the best of its time and he also prepared and improved astronomical tables. 7. The device which is expected to be available later, looks like a hand-held calculator with a keyboard of letters instead of numbers. 8. The laboratory is the place where experiments as well as scientific research may be carried out. 9. The liquid takes up the shape of a vessel in which it is contained. 10. There are some general guides that you will find helpful for your experiment.